Yes, endocrinologists Stephen Edelman and his sidekick Jeremy Pittus, bring another virtual day of diabetes education that is as entertaining as it is educational. In all, life-enhancing. It seems these boys are running their educational events about once a month. Very much a silver lining during our pandemic hiatus.
I’ve already learned from these two how to dose if you want to eat three donuts (sort of) and how alcohol affects blood sugar. And both lessons had me howling. Yes, yes, there’s the regular stuff too, but TCOYDs conferences are the only place you’ll actually have fun learning how to deal with your diabetes.
Get all the details and register here. Then join me, I’ll be tuning in too.
When the husband (above) and I got married, I was already living with type 1 diabetes thirty years. I knew quite well how to take care of myself and was quite used to doing it by myself.
Let him in to my condition? Let him help me? I wasn’t sure. But it didn’t take me long to decide. Being an insatiable learner, and supporter, I noticed that when I’d walk into the kitchen to check my blood sugar on my meter (pre-CGM days), his two feet were walking behind me. So, I used the time we spent hunched over my meter to share lessons in ‘Diabetes 101.’ I began to teach him the ins and outs, the ups and downs.
When I got my Dexcom CGM, the idea of sharing my numbers wasn’t difficult. I like the idea of someone else looking out for me. But he knew it was an adjustment. So the first time he saw on his watch that I was low, he quickly said, “Your blood sugar’s 63!” Then he paused and added, “Does it bother you that I tell you that?” I paused and said, “Not yet!” We laughed, and frankly no it’s never bothered me, whether he catches it before me, or not.
I took this photo just now while we were chatting. If you look closely you’ll notice a small bright blue something with white letters on it in his pocket. I took this photo because I realized that little something is a plastic container that holds four glucose tablets.
Several years ago, the husband decided whenever we went out that he would carry that container of glucose tablets. He told me, “I know there’s not much I can do to help you, but this is one thing I can do.” When I took this photo I realized that he carries that container around in our small one bedroom apartment too.
Thank you husband. And thank you all our type 3s (loved ones) out there who love and support us. There isn’t a type 3 day that I know of but maybe there should be. Those of us who have them know how lucky we are.
I read this in diaTribe this morning so wanted to share. A clinical trial, that will be done remotely, is recruiting 300 people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes and supplying them with continuous glucose monitors (CGM) for free.
The trial will last six months. Its aim is to see whether using a CGM, with personal support, helps people stay in target range more of the time.
I can, and do when asked, say a CGM is life-changing; its the most critical offering in devices since syringes.
Think about it, a glucometer tells you your blood sugar when you check; for most people a few times a day or week. A CGM tells you your blood sugar every 5 minutes, 24/7, and whether it’s stable, going up or down and how quickly. Being able to take action based on this data, already has shown to help many people with diabetes have better management.
Diabetes Stories 